The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs are down to 50 players.
After the first leg, last week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic, the survivors will go to St. Louis and the Bellerive Country Club to play the BMW Championship Aug. 20-23. It’s the first time the Tour has been to Bellerive since 2008, when Camilo Villegas beat Dudley Hart by two shots in a battle of former Florida Gators.
Scottie Scheffler tees off on the eighth hole during the FedEx St. Jude Championship Pro-Am at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., on August 12, 2026.
There’s one more stop after this week: the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the top 30 on the points list after the BMW will play for the biggest single purse and first-place check in golf.
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FedEx Cup celebrates 20th season
The FedEx Cup was created in 2007 to give the PGA Tour something it had never had: a postseason. At first there four playoff events but that has been whittled down to three. The playoffs originally began the week before Labor Day but now they end before the final holiday weekend of the summer.
Points are awarded based on a player’s finish in a tournament and the category of that tournament, using a sliding scale based on their position.
Major championships and The Players Championship winners get 750 points. Winners of the Tour’s “Signature Events” earn 700. Tournaments held opposite majors or signature events award 300 points to the winner. Winners of all other events earn 500 points.
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Players must make a cut to earn points.
How do players advance in the FedEx Cup?
The top 70 after the Wyndham Championship, the 34th regular-season event, advanced to the first leg of the playoffs at the TPC Southwind.
The bottom 20 in points were cut at Southwind, sending the top 50 to the BMW Championship, led by St. Jude Classic winner Scottie Scheffler. Again, the winner gets 750 points. The purse is the same at the St. Jude Classic.
Aug 14, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Tommy Fleetwood looks over his second putt on the ninth green during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
The top 30 in points after the BMW will then head to Atlanta for the Tour Championship. It’s there that all points are wiped out and any one of the 30 players can win the FedEx Cup. The purse is $40 million, with the winner earning $10 million.
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Tommy Fleetwood is the defending champion, coming from ninth on the points list through the BMW Championship to win his first PGA Tour title.
There are no weekend cuts in playoff events.
What’s at stake in the FedEx Cup?
It’s more than just a victory and money. The players in the field at St. Jude are guaranteed PGA Tour cards for the 2027 season. The 50 players who advanced to the BMW Championship have status in the PGA Tour’s lucrative signature events next year. And the 30 players who advance to the Tour Championship are in all four majors in 2027.
What happens to the players below the top 70?
They will be able to regroup and compete in the PGA Tour’s “FedEx Cup Fall,” eight tournaments that begin with the Biltmore Championship Sept. 17-20. Players will battle to stay among the top 100 on the points list through the RSM Classic Nov. 19-22 at the Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island, Ga., and keep their Tour cards for 2027 and also secure a spot in The Players Championship.
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What’s with the changing FedEx Cup formats?
The PGA Tour dropped a controversial “starting strokes” format last year, in which the points leader began the week at 10-under par, No. 2 at 8-under and so on, until Nos. 25-30 started at even par. That’s why Fleetwood, ninth on the points list, won the FedEx Cup after trailing Scottie Scheffler by 4,533 points following the BMW Championship.
Before that, the Tour reset the points to give players higher on the list an advantage after the 2008 FedEx Cup, in which Vijay Singh had an insurmountable lead and could win regardless of what he shot at East Lake, provided he turned in an accurate scorecard.
Expect more changes in 2027 and beyond. PGA Tour Commissioner Brian Rolapp will hold a news conference the week of the Tour Championship with more details on the next version of the Tour schedule and some of the changes could be announced.
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Speculation has run to taking the playoff events to other courses and adding a match play wrinkle ― which has usually been resisted by TV and fans, because golf being golf, it’s entirely possible to have a FedEx Cup final that could pit Alex Noren vs. Sam Stevens.
Top contenders at BMW Championship
Scottie Scheffler: Finally broke his victory drought last week and did it with authority, winning by eight shots. Warning to the field: the last time Scheffler won a tournament by eight shots, the 2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson, he won five of his next 11 starts, with eight top-fives.
Si Woo Kim: Last week was his third runnerup finish and 11th top-10 of the season. No one searching for his first victory of the season has been playing better.
Jul 18, 2026; Southport, ENG; Sam Burns plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Sam Burns: Another week, another close call for one of the best putters on the planet. Burns has three finishes of second or third in his last four starts. At some point, he’s got to find the formula for his first victory in three years.
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Adam Scott: He’s the only guy in the field who played at Bellerive the last time the FedEx Cup Playoffs came there, in 2008. Scott tied for 50th that week. However, he’s been solid in his last two starts, tying for 12th last week at Southwind and tying for ninth at The Open.
Matt Fitzpatrick: Aside from his missed cut at The Open, Fitzpatrick has three top-fives and a tie for 12th last week on his summer ledger. He’s a threat on any old-school course.
Three players to watch outside the bubble
Here are three players starting the week outside the top 30 who are poised to make a run to East Lake:
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Sungjae Im (40th): He went from 53rd to 40th with a tie for fifth at St. Jude, his third finish in a row inside the top-15.
Justin Thomas (44th): Since a tie for fourth at the PGA he’s been making cuts but not much else. He’s got a FedEx Cup title under his belt so he knows how to get it done.
Michael Brennan (47th) He should still have some good feelings from his victory at the Wyndham Championship two weeks ago.
How to watch the BMW Championship
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Golf Channel: Aug. 20-21, 3-7 p.m.; Aug. 22, 1-3 p.m.; Aug. 23, 12-2 p.m.
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CBS: Aug. 22, 3-6 p.m.; Aug. 23, 2-6 p.m.
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ESPN+: Aug. 20-21, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. a.m.
FedEx Cup points leaders
(All are in the field for the BMW Championship)
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1. Scottie Scheffler 4873
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2. Matt Fitzpatrick 3426
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8. Tommy Fleetwood 2247
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9. Collin Morikawa 2242
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11. Xander Schauffele 1981
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12. Jacob Bridgeman 1761
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14. Russell Henley 1740
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16. Hideki Matsuyama 1600
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19. Kristoffer Reitan 1473
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20. Alex Fitzpatrick 1416
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22. Viktor Hovland 1397
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33. Nicolai Højgaard 1208
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36. Robert MacIntyre 1191
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41. Michael Thorbjornsen 1051
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42. Nico Echavarria 1040
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43. Patrick Cantlay 1029
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46. Sahith Theegala 898
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47. Michael Brennan 875
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49. Maverick McNealy 863
Past FedEx Cup champions
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA Tour FedEx Cup primer: 50 players left in the race to East Lake
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